The all-woman Takarazuka Revue will stage a series of performances in Taiwan in August, the troupe’s second appearance before audiences there. The show will run from Aug. 8 to 16 at the National Theater in Taipei. Takarazuka Revue Chairman Koichi Kobayashi, whose grandfather founded ...

Ichizo Kobayashi (1873-1957) was the founder of the West Japan Hankyu train line and department store in Osaka’s central Umeda district. Arguably his most significant artistic contribution was the establishment of the Takarazuka Music School in 1913, which combined a modern education with the ...

What happens when Takarazuka, Japan’s longest-running all-female theater troupe, takes on Masayuki Suo’s hit movie “Shall We Dance?,” which won 14 Japanese Academy Awards in 1996 and aired internationally in 16 countries? There must have been tremendous pressure for director Naoko Koyanagi to adapt ...

Ahead of their current Taiwan tour, Yuzuki Reon, the current top otokoyaku (male-role actress) with the Takarazuka Revue, took time out between rehearsals at the city-center Tokyo Takarazuka Theater to share with readers of The Japan Times something of her view from such a ...

The Takarazuka musical theater troupe began a series of performances in Taiwan on Saturday, the all-female group’s first show on the island since its formation in Hyogo Prefecture 99 years ago. All 24,000 seats have been sold out for the production, which runs through ...

Sayuri Nakajima Student, 24 (Japanese) I think it would have to be Takarazuka, as kabuki and noh are from so long ago, and are a lot more traditional, while Takarazuka is better advertised, so more people have heard of it. I’ve never seen kabuki ...

KOBE (Kyodo) Forty young ladies on Tuesday passed the final entrance exam of the prestigious Takarazuka Music School in Takarazuka, Hyogo Prefecture, with successful candidates rejoicing as they found their exam number on the notice board. One in 26 applicants passed the highly competitive ...

Takarazuka Revue Co., Japan’s all-female musical troupe, is a love-it or hate-it theatrical landmark. Some just can’t take the heavy makeup and sugary plot lines. But enthusiasts, mostly women, wholeheartedly devote their money, time and energy to the troupe just like teen groupies chasing ...

KOBE (Kyodo) The Takarazuka Music School announced Monday that 40 girls passed its highly competitive entrance exam to receive training to become a member of the famous all-female acting troupe. “I’ll do my best to become a star,” said Fumiko Marubashi, 18, a Saitama ...

Akiko Okawara, 37, comes to Tokyo Takarazuka Theater almost every day to catch a stage-door glimpse of Sumire Haruno, a top star who plays a male role in the Takarazuka all-female theater troupe, even when she is not taking in the show. “It’s because ...